


The Quiet in Your Arms

by roxashasboxers



Category: Laramie (TV)
Genre: (but not really), Cuddling, Introspection, M/M, Sleeping Together, Sleepy Cuddles, Unrequited Love, sleeping in a hayloft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-07
Updated: 2019-11-07
Packaged: 2020-12-28 22:40:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21144383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roxashasboxers/pseuds/roxashasboxers
Summary: Slim and Jess take refuge from the cold in a hayloft. Jess thinks about their relationship.





	The Quiet in Your Arms

**Author's Note:**

> A quick little winter fic <3

Jess opens his eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling. He keeps still, eyes half closed just in case, and listens. It’s quiet around him except for the soft knicker of a horse nearby, the slight shift of hooves.

Where-?

The barn.

He exhales.

They were in a barn. Well, first they were in a storm, and then they were in the barn, and now they’re in a hayloft for the night. 

Jess shivers, slowly becoming aware of just how cold he is. Everything but his right side, and he turns his head to see Slim’s broad back. He’d moved closer in his sleep. Which isn’t odd so much as it is concerning that Jess had slept through it.

Life on Sherman Ranch has made him soft. If he’d been out on his own, and someone had gotten that close, he’d be lucky to be alive. People don’t just approach sleeping men for good reasons.

Except this is Slim. And he’s cold too. And he trusts Jess, and Jess trusts him back enough to sleep in his presence. 

Still. It’s unsettling to know how deeply he’d been sleeping; it makes his paranoia spike.

Slim shifts in his sleep and Jess’ eyes cut to the side, instinctively searching for the cause of his disturbance. Of course, there’s nothing; just the cold trying to get at them both. Jess sighs at himself and burrows down further into what’s more or less become a nest of tangled blankets during the night as they gravitated together for warmth. Jess pushes just the slightest bit closer as another shiver runs through him.

“Mmm? Ya cold?” Slim slurs, rolling over.

Jess quickly settles back into his space. “Fine. Go to sleep.”

Slim shakes his head. 

“C’mere.” He says, already reaching out for Jess. Jess freezes as a large arm is suddenly dragging him tight against Slim’s chest. He flails as much as he can under the blankets, which isn’t much, and ends up doing little more than kicking some hay around, and then he’s being tucked tightly under Slim’s arm.

Slim’s face is just inches away, eyes heavy with sleep, and they look at each other in whatever moonlight makes it through the cracks in the roof. It’s another one of those almost moments, and Jess knows it wouldn’t take much; He’d just have to shift a bit and tip his chin and they’d be kissing, but he doesn’t dare.

This thing with Slim, and Jess can’t narrow it down to anything more specific than that, has been building since they met, but neither of them has dared to acknowledge it, and Jess doesn’t know why exactly, figures maybe it’s just another one of those things nice folk like Slim don’t do, romancing someone they ain’t gonna marry. He doesn’t really know, but he doesn’t think it’s just him, not with the way he keeps catching Slim looking back.

Still. He doesn’t dare move.

Because if Slim is wrong he might lose a hired hand, but if Jess is wrong he’ll lose a home and the only family he’s got. So if Slim doesn’t want to acknowledge it, then Jess won’t either. 

He closes his eyes, tucks his chin against Slim’s chest, and tries to fall back to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> What Jess wants: snuggles  
What Jess gets: struggles
> 
> I think I’m going to start a series of short one shots for these two, but we’ll see. ;) Let me know what you thought!


End file.
